Continuing with our target of yesterday, "Christ is Life" with Spiritual Life by way of a few general references bring us to Regeneration, Life Unfading and Eternal:
Spiritual Life;
Sustained by the Word of GOD,
Deuteronomy 8:1-10 with Isaiah 55:3 "The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers. And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that He might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. And HE humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that HE might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the LORD your God disciplines you. So you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God by walking in His ways and by fearing Him. For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land HE has given you."
Isaiah 55:1-5, 6 "Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to Me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, My steadfast, sure love for David. Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you, because of the LORD your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for He has glorified you.
"Seek the LORD while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near."
Secured through Faith,
John 5:24-29 with 20:31; Romans 6:11, 8:10 (Jesus is speaking) "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears My word and believes Him Who sent Me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. (stated under penalty of Deuteronomy 18:18-20) "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. (this is seen in Matthew 27:51-54*, 55-56 and Paul's witness in his epistles) For as the Father has (is) Life in Himself, so HE has granted the Son also to have life in Himself. And HE has given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs* will hear His voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment."
John 20:30-31 and Romans 6:11, 8:10 "Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of GOD, and that by believing you may have Life in His name.
Romans 6:8-11, 8:10 "Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death HE died HE died to sin, once for all, but the life He lives He lives to GOD. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to GOD in Christ Jesus."
Romans 8:8, 9-11 "Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him. For if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit (man's spirit) is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of Him Who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, HE Who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit Who dwells in you." (John 17)
Necessitates Death to Sin and Self,
2Corinthians 4:7-12, 5:15 with Galatians 2:20 "But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to GOD and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you."
2Corinthians 5:11-15 and Galatians 2:20 "Therefore, knowing the fear of the LORD, we persuade others. But what we are is known to (by) GOD, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that One has died for all, therefore all have died; and HE died for All, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him Who for their sake died and was raised."
Galatians 2:15-3:9 "We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile (dogs) sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the Law (of works of the dependency on the flesh) but through faith (agreement with) in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the Law, because by works of the Law no one will be justified. But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law (of faith) I died to the Law, so that I might live to (by) GOD. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for [to] me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the Law, then Christ died for no purpose. O foolish Galatians! (one who calls himself a "Christian or Messianic Christians") Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the Law or by hearing with faith? (I showed in my introduction of the last blog 13a that both Amen and Faith work hand in hand as an affirmation of strong agreement) Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? Does HE Who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the Law, or by hearing with faith— just as Abraham "believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness (in Genesis 15:6)"? Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that GOD would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "In you shall all the nations be blessed." (Genesis 12:3) So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith."
Christ the Supreme Agent of,
Philippians 1:12-26 with 1Peter 4:6 "I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again."
1Peter 4:1-6 "Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of GOD. For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles (pagans, religious) want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; but they will give account to Him Who is ready to judge the living (spiritually awaken) and the (those who remain in separation and hostility to God remain) dead. For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the (by their) spirit the way GOD does."
Love the Demonstration of,
1John 3:13-22 "Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word only or talk but in deed and in truth. By this we will know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before Him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and HE knows everything. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before GOD; and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do what pleases Him."
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